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Duplicating displays is pretty common today. Although this approach comes with several benefits, you need to understand that it also has its setbacks. One of them is that it can always affect FPS and performance, depending on the type of graphics card you use and what you’re doing on the screens.
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Does duplicating screens affect FPS?
Before addressing this question, let me quickly talk about why having dual screens is worthwhile.
Are you considering a dual monitor setup? This setup could allow you to use one screen for gaming and the other for running other applications. However, you need to first understand that a dual monitor setup has its strengths and weaknesses.
One advantage of duplicating screens is that it’ll enable you to multitask. What does that mean? It’s simple; while playing your favorite video game on a screen, you can always take advantage of the second screen, simultaneously, for other important tasks. You may even be doing twitch streaming on the extra screen while you focus on playing your game.
Furthermore, a dual-screen setup isn’t only for gaming purposes. You can always take advantage of it for other projects. Imagine performing a project on one monitor and using the second one for conducting research and referencing; that’s amazing, right?
There’s no doubt about it; dual monitor setups help to increase productivity in a variety of ways. Whether you’re a programmer, gamer, researcher, or desk employee, you’ll certainly enjoy all the goodies that come with duplication screens.
Another benefit of having a dual-screen setup is that it makes it pretty easy for you to embrace immersive gameplay. This is especially important for gamers, who play racing games. While using the first monitor for racing, you can always take advantage of the second screen (a curved monitor will do the trick) to achieve a wider viewing angle.
Setbacks of dual-screen setup on FPS
As you already know, there are tons of benefits attached to having a dual monitor setup. But do you know that this setup also has its disadvantages?
Frame rate, which is usually measured in frames per second (fps), is used to describe how a certain game runs on your PC screen. The more frames your system can pack every second, the smoother the game will be on your PC.
There’s a standard that any frame rate that’s below 30 fps will certainly make a game run slow or choppy. Most times, when you notice that your frame rate is running low, one of the best things you can do is to turn down the graphic settings that are causing the slowness.
Now, to the question of whether or not a dual monitor setup affects frame rates, the simple answer is – it depends.
A couple of factors could contribute to why a dual monitor setup will affect your fps. One of them is the type of graphics card that you’re using. Most likely, there’ll only be a little or no effect on the fps if you have a high-end and quality graphics card. However, with a low-quality card, you’ll most certainly achieve a drastic drop in your fps.
Another factor that could contribute to why the fps will be affected is the type of activities you’re performing on the second screen. Agreed, you’re using the first screen to play your favorite game. If the second monitor is idle, there’s no way the fps could drop so much, even with a low-quality graphics card.
However, if you’re using the second screen for activities, such as playing video or streaming twitch, this will certainly reduce the fps, irrespective of whether you have a strong or weak graphics card.
Here’s a brief illustration of how fps might be affected
According to an experiment carried out by Gaming Specified, different FPS results can be achieved by having a dual-screen setup.
The experiment was carried out by playing Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Ultra Settings) on one screen. The resolution of the game was 3440×1440. That’s not all; the Asus GTX 1080Ti Strix OC, which has a resolution of 2560×1440, was used as the second screen.
After the test, results revealed that having a dual-screen setup, with one monitor idle delivered the best FPS result. Another result that’s pretty close to the first one is a situation, where the extra screen was utilized for reading articles on the Chrome browser. From 136.42 fps, the frame rate dropped to 135.86 fps.
According to the result achieved by using the extra screen to watch videos, the FPS dropped slightly from 136.42 fps to about 130 fps. Also, when the extra screen was used for streaming on Twitch, the fps dropped further to about 127 fps.
The use of fps for streaming on Twitch gave the worst FPS result. Even at that, the drop wasn’t up to 10 fps. That’s to show that having a dual monitor setup will only slightly affect your fps, depending on the activities you’re carrying out on the second screen and how effective your graphics card is.
That said, the bottom line is that a dual-monitor setup can always affect fps, depending on the type of graphics card you’re using, as well as what you’re doing on the second screen. In most cases, the effect is usually insignificant if you make use of the best graphics card. You’ll only have issues if the card is old or not strong enough.
Does duplicating screens affect performance?
As earlier mentioned, duplicating screens will only affect your fps, depending on what you’re doing on the monitors and the type of graphics card you’re using. The same thing also applies, indirectly, to the performance of your game.
Yes, once your fps reduce drastically (this will only happen if your graphics card is of low quality), it’ll affect the smoothness of your game. The performance will be reduced; you may end up not enjoying the game.
That said, it’s safe to say that having a dual-screen setup will only affect the performance of your game if the graphics card is not strong or of high quality. With the best graphics card, the difference is usually insignificant.
Do multiple screens affect RAM?
The amount of RAM you use or the type of CPU you’re using has nothing to do with how many screens you can use. As such, the bottom line is that multiple monitors or screens will never affect your RAM quality. Yes, it’ll never decrease the amount of Ram that you have on your PC.
Does duplicating screens use more GPU?
There’s no denying that having a dual monitor setup will use up a certain amount of GPU. But here’s a burning question, does this move use up more GPU?
No; just because you’re having a dual-screen setup doesn’t mean more of your GPU will be consumed. Three factors that could make the effect minimal are the monitors’ resolution, the quality of your GPU, as well as what you’re doing on the screens.
If you’re using the extra monitor (with high resolution) to watch videos or read articles, there’ll only be a little effect on the GPU. Even streaming on Twitch won’t cause much harm to the GPU.
